A quick moving upper level system dropped southeast across Colorado during this time|period. Ahead of this system, westerly flow increased across the area and helped support a period of strong winds along parts of the higher terrain and the plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
A quick moving upper level system dropped southeast across Colorado during this time|period. Ahead of this system, westerly flow increased across the area and helped support a period of strong winds along parts of the higher terrain and the plains. Additionally, accumulating snow developed over the Continental Divide with this system, with an associated cold front helping to bring snow to much of the I-25 corridor.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 3, 10:26 AM MST, 34 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1026 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 349 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 ...Snow and Blowing Snow for the Continental Divide and crest of the Sangres today and tonight... Upper trough across the Pacific Northwest will continue to advance southeastward towards CO today reaching the Great Basin by 00z this evening. Winds will continue to increase through the day, spreading into the lower elevations during the late morning and afternoon. Have already seen some gusts in excess of 60 mph over Pikes Peak with gusts to around 45 mph at times in the lee of the southern Sangres/southern I-25 corridor. With quite a bit of forward shear...higher gusts (60 mph or greater) should stay confined to the higher elevations. However some gusts to 50 mph will be possible across portions of the adjacent I-25 corridor, particularly south of Colorado City to Walsenburg today as lee trough deepens and kicks eastward. By afternoon, quite a few locations should see gusts to 30 to 40 mph across the remainder of lower elevations. With humidity values staying above critical thresholds, not anticipating any fire weather highlights for today. Will have to watch for the potential for blowing dust this afternoon...but with stronger gusts confined to the plains adjacent to the mountains, and given recent snowfall, not sure how widespread restrictions to visibility may be. Snow has already begun along the Continental Divide early this morning, and with deepening moisture and steepening lapse rates, should see snow really ramp up this afternoon and evening especially as more favorable lift ahead of the upper trough moves in. Combined with the strong winds, higher elevations should see considerable blowing and drifting snow. Current advisories still look on target with generally 4 to 8 inches of accumulation...with locally higher amounts possible along the Continental Divide. Have added the crest of the Sangre De Cristo mountains into a Winter Weather Advisory for this afternoon through tonight. Cold front will drop through the southeast plains overnight with snow spreading into the Palmer Divide and northern slopes of the Raton Ridge around midnight. There is still some variability between short range models on snowfall amounts, which is driven by whether there will be a brief period of NE upslope flow behind the front into the Wets and southeast mountains. Given the fast progressive nature to the upper trough as it kicks eastward into the central plains by 12z Thu, have leaned towards the drier solutions for now...with an inch or two possible for the lower elevations of the southeast mountains and the Palmer and Raton Ridges. Strong northerly downslope winds off the Palmer will likely shadow the greater Colorado Springs and Pueblo areas resulting in snowfall amounts of a trace to under a half inch at best. As for temperatures today, the plains will be well above normal for highs with temperatures approaching and even exceeding 70 degrees across portions of the plains. While current records look safe (69 degrees in 1925 for COS, 75 degrees in 1934 for PUB, and 55 degrees in 2018 for ALS) we could come close. This will set up a rather stark contrast to tomorrows high temperatures (see discussion below). .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Tuesday) Issued at 349 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 There are big differences between the operational models for the first part of the extended period with regards to snowfall potential across the Plains. Beyond Thursday, and for most of the rest of the extended period, models are in pretty good agreement. Thursday...there are bid differences in the snowfall potential for the Plains Thursday morning into the afternoon. A quick moving upper level trough will be shifting east across Colorado during the morning hours. Snow of the Mountains is a given, with periods of moderate snow along the Continental Divide through much of the day. As for the Plains, a cold front will have passed south during the morning hours with northerly flow filling in behind it. The most bullish model guidance is the coarse resolution ECMWF with decent qpf values along the I-25 corridor Thursday morning. But, the higher resolution solutions such as the ARW, NMM and NAM are pretty dry with only isolated snow showers over the Eastern Mountain lee slopes into the southern I-25 corridor. For now, have the highest pops down south over this area, from the Eastern Mountains into the Raton Mesa, but snowfall will be highly influenced by the low level wind fields and any upslope potential. As of now, storm total snowfall amounts over higher elevations of the Sangre de Cristo Range could range in the 2 to 5 inch range, while lower elevations of the southern I-25 corridor may see an inch by Thursday afternoon. If the ECMWF solution comes to being, snowfall amounts could be higher, and this will need to be monitored. Expect any snowfall across the area to come to an end from north to south during the afternoon. As for temperatures, highs will only reach into the mid 40s across the Plains. Friday and Saturday...persistent northwest flow aloft is forecast across the region with light snow continuing over the Central Mountains down into the La Garita range. Not anticipating any heavy snowfall at this time, with northwest facing slopes being the favored locations. Temperatures will remain cool with 40s for highs for most of the Plains. A strong cold front is forecast to drop south across the Plains Saturday night and will likely produce windy conditions as it passes. Sunday through Wednesday...generally northwest flow is forecast to remain in place across the Rockies with periods of snow showers continuing into early next week. The main issue will be temperatures on the Plains. With an upper trough to the east, cold air will be nearby, and is forecast to make surges west across the Plains most days. Temperatures will depend on how far west the cold air sloshes back across the Plains and expected low stratus. Highs may range from 40s to 20s from west to east. It may be possible another upper disturbance will move across Colorado by midweek with more widespread snowfall, but there are model differences on this possible trough. Mozley && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 1023 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 VFR conditions expected for TAF sites today with w-sw winds gusting 30-35 kts likely this afternoon. Brief MVFR conditions with -SHSN will be then possible at all three terminals tonight, best chances at KCOS and KALS. Any accumulations will be spotty and around a trace to under a half inch at best. Winds will shift out of the north at both KCOS and KPUB after 06z with gusts up to 30 to 40 kts possible behind the frontal passage. Skies clear and winds decrease all areas after 12z on Thu. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 1 PM MST Thursday for COZ058-060- 068. Winter Weather Advisory until 8 AM MST Thursday for COZ073-075. && SHORT TERM...KT LONG TERM...MOZLEY AVIATION...PETERSEN
Hazardous Weather Outlook...CORRECTED National Weather Service Pueblo CO 603 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 COZ058>089-093>099-041245- Western Mosquito Range/East Lake County Above 11000 Feet- Leadville Vicinity/Lake County Below 11000 Feet- Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Western Chaffee County Between 9000 and 11000 Feet- Central Chaffee County Below 9000 Feet- Western Mosquito Range/East Chaffee County Above 9000 Feet- Saguache County West of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- Saguache County East of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Upper Rio Grande Valley/Eastern San Juan Mountains Below 10000 Feet-Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Del Norte Vicinity/Northern San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Alamosa Vicinity/Central San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Southern San Luis Valley- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 8500 And 11000 Feet- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 7500 and 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Northwestern Fremont County Above 8500 Feet- Western/Central Fremont County Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountain Valley Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountains between 6300 and 10000 Feet- Wet Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Teller County/Rampart Range Above 7500 Feet/Pikes Peak Between 7500 And 11000 Feet-Pikes Peak Above 11000 Feet- Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County- Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Feet- Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Feet-Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet- Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Feet- Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Feet- Crowley County-La Junta Vicinity/Otero County- Eastern Las Animas County-Western Kiowa County- Eastern Kiowa County-Las Animas Vicinity/Bent County- Lamar Vicinity/Prowers County-Springfield Vicinity/Baca County- 603 AM MST Wed Feb 3 2021 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Wind driven snow will spread into the mountains today and become heavy at times, especially this afternoon and tonight for the southwest and central mountains and the higher elevations of the Sangre De Cristo mountains. Accumulations will range from 4 to 8 inches with locally higher amounts possible across the eastern San Juan mountains and the eastern Sawatch range. Winds today will gust over 60 mph across the higher elevations, with west winds 35 to 45 mph spreading into the lower elevations through the late morning and afternoon. A few local gusts to around 50 mph will be possible along and west of I-25, especially in the corridor from Colorado City to Walsenburg today. Strong winds winds in the mountains will result in poor visibilities in blowing snow, while strong cross winds will be possible for north south oriented roads across the lower elevations. A cold front will spread snow into the adjacent plains tonight with accumulations in the 1 to 2 inch range possible for the Palmer Divide and northern slopes of the Raton Ridge. Although these snowfall amounts are expected to be light, roads may still become slick in spots for the Thursday morning commute. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Snow will be possible Thursday over the Mountains with an additional inch or two possible. Areas over the Southern Sangre de Cristo Range, east into the southern Interstate 25 corridor will see snow Thursday morning, with snow shifting south into New Mexico by the afternoon. Lower elevations may see up to an inch of snow. Persistent northwesterly flow will bring periods of snowfall to the Continental Divide, mainly from the La Garita range north across the higher elevations of Chaffee and Lake Counties. Snow amounts should be light at a couple inches a day through the middle of next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely today and tonight in and near the mountains. 31/88
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 heavy snow, 3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow of 9.7 inches. Two northeast Leadville.
Heavy snow of 9.0 inches. Palmer Lake.
Heavy snow of 7.1 inches. 19 northwest New Delhi.
Heavy snow of 7.0 inches. 2 west Colorado City.
Heavy snow of 7.0 inches. 1 northwest Walsenburg.
Mesonet station Aguilar.
Wolf Creek Pass.
La Junta Automated Surface Observing System.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2021
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 945809, 945825, 945833, 945851, 945853, 945798, 945796, 945799.